Wayne Rooney has confessed to purposely targeting Alex Bruce - Steve Bruce's son - because he wanted to make a name for himself.
Manchester United ' record goalscorer has never been one to shy away from a scuffle and he came up against Bruce early in his career when the latter was on loan at Oldham Athletic. It created no bad blood between the pair and they retain a healthy friendship.
But once they crossed the white line Rooney was firmly of the belief that going after him would get people talking and the pair clashed on numerous occasions.
The Evertonian told The Times : "I remember playing against Alex Bruce when I was younger and purposely wanted to boot him, because of his dad (Steve).
"It’s a way to make a name for yourself. And I did — I booted him, I butted him once. We’re good friends, me and Alex, but had a lot of run-ins on the pitch. . . purely because of Steve."
Rooney certainly made a name for himself during his career - winning a host of honours and finishing as England's record goalscorer as well as United's. Renowned as the finest English player of his generation, the 36-year-old has now taken his step into management.
He begun with a player-coach role at then Championship side Derby County, but he couldn't keep them in the second tier after he was handed the top job. Rooney dealt with a host of financial and off the pitch issues before eventually leaving his post.
Now he is in charge at DC United - the MLS club whom he played for in the twilight of his career. Rooney has lost six of his 11 games as he looks to rebuild the outfit but backed himself go abroad, which he feels not enough young managers are prepared to do.
He claimed: "I’m rebuilding a club, rebuilding a squad and a big attraction is working with different nationalities, not just of players but staff. My ambition one day is to manage at the top and that (a multinational environment) is what you get at top clubs. I looked and thought it’s a great chance to experience it.
“It’s a chance to take myself out of my comfort zone and develop as a coach. I could have sat at home and waited — managers get sacked, normally, around this time and jobs would have come up, but I think in England we have the best league in the world and a great structure below it and we’re a bit stubborn. Not enough managers take that risk and challenge themselves by going abroad. Too many just wait to see what comes up in England."
